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Spirituality

The Spiritual Journey from Selfishness to Selflessness

Rodney Richards | Oct 26, 2019

PART 1 IN SERIES Empathy and Narcissism: Polar Opposites

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

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Rodney Richards | Oct 26, 2019

PART 1 IN SERIES Empathy and Narcissism: Polar Opposites

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

Have you ever met a narcissist? You may not know the answer to that question, but here’s a clue: they tend to think quite highly of themselves, and very little about others.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a recognizable mental illness that usually includes a pattern of grandiose behavior, lack of empathy and a pathological need for admiration and attention.

One of several types of personality disorders, people who have NPD display an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, and typically have troubled relationships and a severe lack of empathy for others.

Sound familiar? I hope not, because one of the lynchpins of our humanness is our ability to empathize with the condition of others. Narcissists lack that ability. We all may feel selfish or self-important at times, seek attention and admiration when we do well, and have trouble in various relationships, but hopefully those conditions remain temporary and we work through them. As the Baha’i teachings clearly say, selfishness and self-love, the traits of the narcissist, can destroy human virtues. In a response to a letter he received from an American Baha’i who wished to be freed of the dark quality of selfishness, Abdu’l-Baha replied:

All these wishes are well worthy of asking, especially the rescue from self-love. This is a strange trait and the means of the destruction of many important souls in the world. If man be imbued with all the good qualities, but be selfish, all the other virtues will fade or pass away, and eventually he will grow worse. – Abdu’l-Baha, from a tablet to an American Baha’i, Star of the West, Volume 4, p. 184.

But for those who can’t seem to shed those behaviors, narcissism represents a personality disorder and mental condition causing extreme behaviors that usually cannot be corrected easily. Some narcissism can be ameliorated through the use of prescribed medications, and psychotherapy or psychiatric treatment may help. But as in all such cases, the patient him or herself must first realize they need help, seek it out, accept it, and try to change their patterns of behavior.

The loss of feelings of empathy toward others, as exhibited by the narcissist, is a common trait of many of these disorders. But what is empathy? Here’s the dictionary definition:

empathy: n. the ability to share in another’s emotions, thoughts or feelings.

According to psychologist and empathy researcher Lidewij Niezink, Ph.D., empathy does not refer to an “imagine-self perspective.” This means we focus on our own experiences as if we are in the other person’s shoes, which limits our insight and emotional connection to others. When we consider how we would feel, think and react in a similar situation, we don’t really learn anything about the other person, and we might even make erroneous assumptions about them.

Instead, to really empathize, Niezink said, we need to ask ourselves the question: “What is it like for a blind person to be blind?” This represents an “imagine-other perspective,” focused on the experiences of others.

So empathy does not mean figuring out the right words to say, or trying to erase a person’s pain. It is not wanting things to be different than they are. It is not saying, “Cheer up! It’ll be better tomorrow,” or “Don’t worry about it!”

To empathize with others, it helps to first empathize with ourselves. This is vital. Many of us have a hard time sitting with someone else’s pain simply because we can’t sit with our own. We don’t take the time to understand or connect to our own range of emotions, and over the years we’ve learned to ignore, avoid or discount our feelings.

The Baha’i teachings have some excellent spiritual advice about encountering and empathizing with our inner selves. Baha’u’llah wrote that everyone can and should take this journey to self-discovery:
… man should know his own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty. – Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 34.

Baha’u’llah also advised us to “read the book of one’s own self …” and then wrote:

Wherefore, put thy hand into thy bosom, then stretch it forth with power, and behold, thou shalt find it a light unto all the world. – Baha’u’llah, The Four Valleys, in The Call of the Divine Beloved, p. 99.

Finding that “light unto all the world,” which involves moving from selfishness to selflessness, truly brings every spiritual seeker closer to self-knowledge and self realization.

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Comments

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  • Oct 30, 2019
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    Thank you for this insightful article, dear Rodney. Your wonderful explanation with lovely supporting quotes are helping me to better understand empathy for others as well as myself. Lots to think about! I will be re-reading this again in the morning!
  • Oct 27, 2019
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    ‪The greatest journey. The purpose of life in planet schoolroom. Self to selfless and reunion in the timeless and placess ocean.‬
  • Mark David Vinzens
    Oct 26, 2019
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    „In Vedanta, selflessness and love are seen not as virtues to be acquired from books and teachers but as the natural qualities of the human soul which are to be manifested. That is why an illumined person is called, “one who delights in the Self.” [...] Nobody loves a person whose heart is empty of love. The heart of an atmarama is an unceasing source of love; everyone is eager to partake of that love and so that person is loved by all. Simply by “delighting in his Self,” by going to the source of all love, such a ...person fulfills the eternal Law of Love.“
    (The Undivided Life by Swami Bhajanananda)
    Read more...
    • rodney Richards
      Oct 28, 2019
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      Mark, I can agree that selflessness and love, more than being virtues to be achieved, emanate from the human soul and demonstrate their range through actions of the human heart. I believe we possess all qualities and virtues from inception, a true "Self-Light" and that this Light can be obscured through attachment, either to the Kingdom of Names as Baha'u'llah has spoken of, or to material things. In expressing our love of others, we can find Love, that "Magnetic force" 'Abdu'l-Baha has spoken of, which keeps the planets in their orbits and more.
  • Mark David Vinzens
    Oct 26, 2019
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    There is only one self (God) and, in so far as it is doing anything, it is serving itself. As a spiritual teacher said: „everybody is the same Light shining“. The Light serves the Light. That is why I am not entirely convinced of describing the spiritual journey as a journey from selfishness to selflessness. I call it the journey from the false to the true Self.
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